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- Hundreds in Sydney protest visit by Israel's Netanyahu
Hundreds in Sydney protest visit by Israel's Netanyahu
Demonstrators accuse Israel's PM of being a war criminal and compare him to Hitler
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![Pro-Palestinian activists demonstrate against a visit by Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu, during a protest rally in Sydney, on February 23, 2017](https://cdn.i24news.tv/upload/image/afp-fb570735fdf2dc6781eb859ccf2cce3c9aeefeeb.jpg?width=1000)
Several hundred pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated in Sydney on Thursday against the first visit to Australia by an Israeli prime minister, branding Benjamin Netanyahu a "war criminal" and brandishing a banner depicting him as Adolf Hitler.
A police helicopter hovered over the city as speakers slammed Canberra's strong support of Netanyahu and his government.
Riot police intervened amid tensions between different groups and removed someone who approached the crowd shouting "long live Israel," according to the Guardian.
A large banner was unfurled depicting Netanyahu with a mustache as Hitler and the word "Fascist" written underneath.
The rally, organized by Sydney's Palestine Action Group, drew some 650 demonstrators, said the Guardian.
"We are here to oppose Australia's support for Israel, for a racist apartheid nation," pro-Palestinian author and Australian lawyer Randa Abdel-Fattah told AFP.
"It's disgusting to see that some of our Australian leaders have rolled out the red carpet and welcomed a war criminal into Australia," she said.
"But there are so many Australians who are against this and we are raising our voices loudly and clearly today, to say (Prime Minister) Malcolm Turnbull, and (Foreign Minister) Julie Bishop, 'not in our name'," she added.
The demonstrators, organized by the local Palestine Action Group, tried to march on Netanyahu's hotel but were cut off by police well short of the city center building overlooking the harbor.
Ahead of Netanyahu's arrival Wednesday, some 60 business leaders, academics, members of the clergy and former politicians signed a letter saying Australia should not welcome Netanyahu, claiming his policies "provoke, intimidate and oppress" the Palestinians.
(Staff with AFP)